Panera Bread will overhaul its menu on April 4, an announcement that comes at a time when the St. Louis company is in the news for different reasons.
Changes include nine new items that will bring the chain into a “new era,” according to a news release.
Among them are four new sandwiches: Toasted Italiano with Black Forest ham; Chicken Bacon Rancher; Ciabatta Cheesesteak; and Tomato Basil BLT.
RELATED: How Panera Bread ducked California’s new $20 minimum wage law
Salad-wise, the chain is adding New Mediterranean Chicken Greens with Grains; Southwest Chicken Ranch; Balsamic Chicken Greens with Grains; and Ranch Cobb Salad.
There is also a Bacon Mac & Cheese.
Twelve existing items will receive “menu enhancements,” including the Bravo Club Sandwich, Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt and the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad.
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The new menu will add items priced at less than $10 at participating restaurants, the news release said, including the Tomato Basil BLT, a Ranch Cobb Salad and the Mediterranean Greens with Grains. It also states that there will be “more chicken and steak on many salads and sandwiches.”
Panera Bread is exempt from a law hiking wages for fast food workers from $16 to $20 an hour in California, a fact that has been widely reported this week. The law contains an exemption for chains that bake bread and sell it as a stand-alone item. Critics have said Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for the exemption and note that Newsom’s donor Greg Flynn owns a number of Panera franchises.
In addition Panera Bread settled a class action lawsuit over delivery fees for $2 million this week and in recent months has been subject to wrongful death lawsuits over the caffeine content in its lemonades.